Weather News

Heavy rain drenches inland QLD

Queensland's southwest has received soaking rain overnight,with some places seeing their heaviest rain in almost two years.

The Channel Country saw the best rain, with widespread falls between 25 and 50mm, although the substantial rain extended as far east as Charleville.

Bedourie and Thargomindah saw their heaviest rain in almost two years, recording 34mm and 43mm respectively to 9am this morning. Quilpie saw its heaviest May rainfall in 23 years, picking up 33mm.

A broad low pressure trough combined with tropical moisture sourced from the Indian Ocean to cause the rain.

Rain areas should spread east today with the trough, bringing a further widespread 5-15mm to districts south of the Northern Goldfields, with some isolated falls of up to 30mm. Roma collected 25mm to 3pm today, its heaviest May rain in four years.

Much of the coast should see only light falls, including Brisbane, although some parts of central coast could pick up as much as 20mm. In the state's tropics, falls should only be light.

The rain is great news for drought affected regions, with the Diamantina and Murweh regional councils in the state's west seeing some of the highest totals. Unfortunately, areas north of the Boulia council have not seen as much rain, and are unlikely to do so, although the Richmond area may see up to 5-10mm today.

The trough should move offshore tomorrow, clearing rain areas from much of the state. However a low should develop in the south, causing showers and the odd storm to persist into Friday. Most places should see less than 5mm, with falls of up to 10-15mm on the ranges near the New South Wales border.

Looking into the weekend, a large will bring generally dry and sunny conditions, with chilly mornings across the inland.